To the Mountains; Day 3

Mt Evans, which has the highest paved road in North America, was first on our agenda today. We left our hotel in Idaho Springs, CO at 8:00AM under sunny skies with a temperature of 54. Hwy 103 took us south and west to the point where we start up Mt Evans. Tops went down on the convertibles for the trip to the top. Hwy 5 took us to the summit, where it was 51 degrees.


On the way up we stopped at Summit Lake for a little walking and picture taking.



It was hazy/smokey at the top, as you can see from photos. The Rocky Mountains looked like the Smoky Mountains in the south. I was surprised to see a monument to Rotary International there.

On the way up Trish pointed out a marmot (Marmots in RMNP) sunning on a rock on the side of the mountain above the road.

On the way down a marmot was sunning himself on a rock right next to the road and he sat still while all three of our cars stopped next to him to take pictures.

Also on the way down we encountered a herd of young big horn sheep crossing the road.

After descending Mount Evans and returning to Idaho Springs we hopped on I-70 westbound to Silverthorne, where we stopped for lunch at the Mountain Lyon Cafe. Back on I-70 westbound we exited at Hwy 9 and traveled south through Breckenridge to Fairplay, where 285 and 291 took us south to Salida, where we stopped for the day. Just off Hwy 9 somewhere south of Breckenridge there were numerous cars stopped along the road taking pictures of a moose feeding in the trees and bushes. We wanted to stop but traffic was quite congested so we moved on.

Our travels stopped at 4:45PM having traveled a mere 191 miles. The high temperature today was 88. Salida has a municipal indoor hot pool that we took advantage of after we stopped. The hot water comes from a hot spring about 5 miles away. One pool has 100 degree water and a second has 80 degree water. A nice end to the day.

To see all the photos taken today click on this link: Day 3 Pics

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